It’s billed as the “Century Crunch,” a potential traffic nightmare rivaling the likes of “Carmageddon,” “Jamzilla” and possibly even “Sharknado.”

For 57 hours from Friday through the morning of July 28, Century Boulevard — the busiest route into and out of Los Angeles International Airport — will be shut down so work crews can demolish a bridge to make way for a future light rail stop.

And it all will happen on a summer travel weekend that compares similarly in traffic and passengers to the day before Thanksgiving.

“We anticipate there is going to be a lot of congestion in and about the airport,” said Dave Sotero, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “We just don’t want to see people missing their flights because they are affected by the extended time frames.”

For weeks, LAX and MTA officials have worked to spread the word, sending notices to the media to alert the public, to airlines and other transportation companies to warn their employees, and to hotels along Century Boulevard to alert their guests.

“Because we planned ahead, Carmageddon never happened on the 405. So let’s plan ahead again,” Garcetti said. “Avoid the area if you do not need to be there and, if you must, allow for extra travel time and use public transit.”

Although the work will be done primarily on a weekend — and, thus, Century Boulevard office workers won’t be traveling through the intersection — airport travelers and those who drop off and pick them up cannot just stay home as drivers did during “Carmageddon” and “Carmageddon II,” complete closures of the 405 Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass in 2011 and 2012.

During those closures and the subsequent “Jamzilla” in February, traffic was not a problem because those who could stayed home, abiding by the warnings and advice to hunker down and spend the day with family.

The “Century Crunch” might be different.

“We expect over 200,000 passengers on both days, and over 1,700 landings and takeoffs,” airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles said. “We also expect more than 80,000 vehicles to come to the Central Terminal Area.”

LAX has four entrances: Sepulveda Boulevard from the north and south, and 96th Street and Century Boulevard from the east.

On a normal day, an estimated 92,800 vehicles travel through the intersection at Century and Aviation boulevards, LAX officials said.

“Century represents one-third of the traffic,” Castles said. “It is the busiest entrance and exit for us.”

Traffic peaks from 6-9 a.m., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 7-11 p.m.

The Century Boulevard closure and railroad bridge demolition is part of the plans for the Metro Crenshaw/LAX light rail line, an 8.5-mile route that will connect the Green and Expo lines. A station will be built at Century and Aviation as part of the line, which is expected to begin running in 2019.

Although airport officials said this is one of the busiest travel weekends of the summer, doing the work then could not be avoided, Sotero said. For the project to stay on schedule, he said, the demolition “really can’t wait.”

“Unfortunately, the die has been cast,” he said. “The contractor working with Metro has offered this date and it’s been approved. It’s moving forward.”

Metro officials have spent recent days alerting cab companies, and hotels and businesses in the area. Airport officials have worked to notify airport employees, and airlines, which are responsible for telling their employees and passengers about the possible delays. Airport officials also have contacted the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board to notify travel agents and tour operators.

To get around the closure, motorists driving west on Century will be diverted north onto La Cienega Boulevard, west on Manchester Avenue, south onto Airport Boulevard and west onto Century.

Castles said she drove the 3-mile detour recently and it added 20 minutes to her normal commute.

Airport and Metro officials advise travelers to use Flyaway services and public transportation to get to the airport, and shuttles from Lot C. Drivers should use the cellphone lot to await arriving passengers.

Cab, shuttle and limousine companies, meanwhile, are preparing for the weekend, telling customers booking rides that they should expect to leave a little earlier to ensure they make their flights.

Nettabai Ahmed, president of Independent Taxi Owners Association, which runs the Independent Cab Co., expects more traffic because of the closure, but his drivers already primarily use Sepulveda Boulevard when coming from the south, the 105 Freeway when coming from the east and the Howard Hughes Parkway exit from the 405 when coming from the San Fernando Valley to enter the airport.

“We are advising our customers it’s going to take another 10 or 20 minutes to put on your reservations,” he said. “We anticipate some traffic jams.”

Ahmed said all of his drivers at the Independent Cab Co. are aware of the closure.

“I don’t think it will be a problem,” he said. “People are allergic to problems, so when they anticipate problems, they just avoid it.”

Arthur Oganesian, owner of Mirage Limousine and Sedan Service in Burbank, said he will be adding vehicles to his fleet during the closure because his drivers could become tied up in traffic. Drivers will alter their routes and pick up passengers earlier than usual.

PV Limo owner Mo Garkani said he isn’t expecting problems. Officials spelled doom about “Carmageddon” and the other freeway closures on the 405 in the past few years, and nothing went wrong.

“Once it came down to game day, it wasn’t too bad,” Garkani said. “We’ve got enough veins and arteries to avoid that area. Our drivers are all pretty adept at finding alternative routes. … I don’t think it will be a huge problem.”

The CHP advises taking these freeway routes:

• From southbound 405: Exit at Howard Hughes Parkway and go south to Sepulveda or exit at Manchester Avenue and go south on Sepulveda.

• From northbound 405: Take 105 west to the northbound Sepulveda Boulevard exit.

FlyAway service is available in Santa Monica, at Union Station in Los Angeles, Van Nuys, Westwood and at the Metro Expo station at La Brea Avenue. The Metro Green line has LAX shuttles from the Imperial Highway and Aviation stop.

Metro bus lines and municipal lines in Torrance, Santa Monica, Culver City and beach cities also provide service to the Bus Transit Center on 96th Street just east of Sepulveda Boulevard.

Once the bridge is gone, one lane in each direction on Century will be closed for 16 months as the contractor installs infrastructure for the station. This will leave three lanes in each direction.

Larry Altman has covered crime and court proceedings in Southern California since 1987. A graduate of Cal State Northridge, where he served as editor of the college newspaper, Altman has worked for the Daily Breeze since 1990. The Society of Professional Journalists named him a "Distinguished Journalist" in Los Angeles in 2006. Altman's work was featured twice on CBS' “48 Hours” and he appeared eight times with “Nancy Grace," who called him "dear." He has covered hundreds of homicides and many trials. Altman has crawled through a mausoleum to open a coffin, confronted husbands who killed their wives, wives who killed their husbands, and his coverage helped put a child molester and a murderer in prison. In his spare time, Altman is an avid Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers fan, is the commissioner of a Fantasy Baseball league with several other current and former newspapermen, runs a real estate empire and likes to watch old movies on TCM.

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